On Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:26:41 -0400, wrote:

I"m looking for a shop vac and was wondering if anyone could recommend
one they were using and/or one they were displeased with.

I'll be using it mainly to clean up dry messes. Dirt, sawdust.
Any suggestions?

Since you have a dust collector, you can use that for cleanups around the
shop. Don't suck big stuff directly into the impeller, though (see below).

Also, I have a ?sawdust? collector that connects to my table saw ( I
inherited it so I don't know anything about it.)
I was wondering if there was something that one could put in line to
collect larger pieces of sawdust or wood CHIPS. It makes a lot of
noise sometimes when it sucks up larger pieces of wood. I've also
been using it to clean up my work areas.....one of the reasons I
thought maybe I'd better buy a shop vac then mess this thing up.

Yes, you can get a cyclone separator to go inline with your dust collector.
It's basically a lid for a 30gal metal garbage can that attaches in series
with the 4" line to the collector. They cost $20, or so, in addition to the
metal garbage can. They work great for taking wood chips out of the line
before the dust collector. They also keep 75% of the sawdust out of the
collector and make it easier to clean (just dump the garbage can).

You can also get a floor sweep for the DC, and a pickup wand.

Separator: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1515
Floor sweep: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=16964
Pickup wand: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=20375

Though I don't usually buy from Rockler, they have one-item-only 20% off sale
this week.

(I'll still need a shop vac regardless.)

The brands are pretty much all the same. I don't trust the specs, so can't
help much there.